(6) SUDDEN AND END
(Revelation 18:21-24)
Cast it into the sea.--John next sees an angel cast a large stone into the sea. A similar act was performed to indicate the fall of ancient Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:63-64.) The sinking of the stone represents the sudden and complete fall of the apostate church; not by a slow decline, but because of a violent force against it.
Shall be heard no more.--Music which is the natural sign of joy will cease; no one in the city will have anything to produce gladness. All kinds of crafts will have no chance to operate, and machinery will cease to be heard. Lights will go out and social events will no longer occur.
All the nations deceived.--The reason for such desolation and ruin will be that false religion has deceived the nation with sorceries--all kinds of tricks, impositions, and false claims to divine power. Another reason is that in bloody persecutions this spiritual Babylon has slain saints and prophets of God. The word "all" here is used in an accommodated sense, meaning that a multitude had been slain in perpetuating the papal system.
LESSON 22.
THE FALL OF BABYLON
Read Rev. 18
1. Tell of the angel that was seen after the vision of chapter 17. Ans. Revelation 18:1.
2. He announced the fall of what? Ans. Revelation 18:2.
3. Babylon would become the habitation of what? Ans. Revelation 18:2.
4. For whose sins was this Babylon responsible? Ans. Revelation 18:3.
5. What did another voice from heaven urge God's people to do? Ans. Rev. 18: 4. 6. Give two reasons why they should come out of Babylon. Ans. Revelation 18:4.
7. Who knew all her iniquities? Ans. Revelation 18:5.
8. By what was Babylon's punishment to be measured? Ans. Revelation 18:6-7.
9. Of what had she boasted? Ans. Revelation 18:7.
10. What can you say of the suddenness of her destruction? Ans. Revelation 18:8.
11. What would her destruction cause kings to do and say? Ans. Revelation 18:9-10.
12. Why would merchants weep and mourn over her? Ans. Revelation 18:12-16.
13. How would the men of the sea express their grief at her destruction? Ans. Revelation 18:17-19.
14. But the destruction of Babylon would be a cause for rejoicing for whom? Ans. Revelation 18:20.
15. How did a strong angel illustrate the fall of Babylon? Ans. Revelation 18:21 (See Jeremiah 51:63-64 regarding ancient Babylon).
16. Name five things which would never appear in the great city again, and tell why these things would be there no more. Ans. Revelation 18:22-23.
17. Whose blood was found in her? Ans. Revelation 18:24.
{"canonical_mapping_status":"native_coordinates_only; no canonical mapping inferred","footnote_boundary_status":"whole_native_row_preserved; no independent-note segmentation or note-count claim","html_tags":{"p":24},"id":"sqlite3:d412e98941913f4abe00a83e17e223396fb25d99fa4920adbade8d33d0b41ff5:commentaries:34","native_body_column":"text","native_module_metadata":{"$context_sha256":"26dd4fdedf97ee634b570319054c4e8178e8929d3d11c75461d0e3451e8630a1"},"native_reference":{"book_number":730,"chapter_number_from":18,"chapter_number_to":18,"verse_number_from":21,"verse_number_to":24},"native_rowid":34,"native_table":"commentaries","projection":"HTML character data with explicit block newlines; no text-node deletion or whitespace folding; original HTML retained","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"native-verse-keyed-module-record","semantic_kind_reviewed":false,"source_family_classification":"sermonindex","source_html":{"$text_sha256":"af0aa53a33646478cd7894e3de5ad2180668fadeadd0e05b6b2f50306aadc1ee"},"source_html_sha256":"af0aa53a33646478cd7894e3de5ad2180668fadeadd0e05b6b2f50306aadc1ee","source_locator":{"$context_sha256":"ff336b6cca97c5ef0178d1cb6bb5a71175c9f7fc0391f05dbb278f3ffdebc7a5"},"source_origin_path":"SI-HINDS.commentaries.SQLite3","source_sha256":"d412e98941913f4abe00a83e17e223396fb25d99fa4920adbade8d33d0b41ff5"}